Traded, All-Stars, Leaders and World Series Cards
This set started with an Eddie Mathews prototype card. It only seems right to include a card with him traded to the Astros. Jim O'Toole was an elite pitcher in the early '60s. He was the NL starting pitcher in the 1963 All-Star game. By 1967, arm trouble left him a shadow of his former self. He finished his MLB career playing for his hometown White Sox. He made an attempted come back in 1969 with the expansion Seattle Pilots, but was cut before the start of the season.
For the All-Star cards, I decided to take another rejected Topps card. This one may have been meant for a booklet cover or something similar. Although it says Willie McCovey, he is obviously absent from either photo.
The black and white action shot could be either Bernie Allen or Graig Nettles. Any other guesses?
The inset photo is definitely Ollie Brown. That photo originally appeared on his 1967 card with the Giants. An airbrushed version similar to the one used on this mock-up appeared on his 1969 Padres card.
Here is the actual Willy McCovey. Coinsidentaly, he was the starting first baseman for the NL in the 1966 All-Star Game. For his AL counterpart, I made a card of the Halos 2nd bagger Bobby Knoop.
I went back to following Topps script with the design of the leaders card. I also followed their lead by using "Bob" and "Richie" instead of their preferred names: Roberto Clemente and Dick Allen. Leading the NL in RBIs in 1966 was the "Hammer", Hank Aaron.
For the AL, I simply had to include the "Judge". 1966 was his Triple Crown year. Here we have all 3 batting average leaders, Robinson, Oliva and Kaline. Not a bad leaders selection. It contains both 1964 Rookies of the Year and 4 Hall of Famers.
Finally, for the World Series card, I used another Topps reject. The mock-up says Tom Siever (another inside joke?). I can't make out any of the black and white players on this card but that sure looks like Drysdale on the inset. On my version, I kept the rounded corners with the little flourish and added a border for continuity. I also added the 1966 World Series logo to the card.
Instead of a black and white inset with a blue background, I used a color head-shot. It seems as though the Dodgers offense took the Series off. They managed only 2 runs in the first game then went scoreless in the next three. The O's outscored them 13-2 in a four game sweep.
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As usual, I will make a "requests" post before Spring Training ends. Please post your requests in the comment section and I will try to accommodate as many as I can. Thanks.
